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The Military

Submission + - U.S. Military Deploys Gunshot Detectors (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by RedEaredSlider
RedEaredSlider writes: A new warfighting technology will soon be making its way to Afghanistan. U.S. Army forces will be getting gunshot detection systems, which can tell where a shot was fired from.

Approximately 13,000 gunshot detection systems will be given to individual footsoldiers later this month, according to the U.S. Army. The system, called Individual Gunshot Detector (IDG), is made by Reston, Va.-based QinetiQ North America.

IDG has four small acoustic sensors and a small display screen attached to the soldier's body armor that shows the distance and direction of incoming bullets. The sensors are each about the size of a deck of cards and can detect the supersonic sound waves generated by enemy gunfire. It alerts the soldier of the shot's direction in less than one second.
Role Playing (Games)

Why BioWare's Star Wars MMO May Already Be Too Late 328

Posted by Soulskill from the i-find-your-lack-of-faith-disturbing dept.
Since the announcement of Star Wars: The Old Republic, many gamers have been hopeful that its high budget, respected development team and rich universe will be enough to provide a real challenge to the WoW juggernaut. An opinion piece at 1Up makes the case that BioWare's opportunity to do so may have already passed. Quoting: "While EA and BioWare Austin have the horsepower needed to at least draw even with World of Warcraft though, what we've seen so far has been worryingly conventional — even generic — given the millions being poured into development. Take the opening areas around Tython, which Mike Nelson describes in his most recent preview as being 'rudimentary,' owing to their somewhat generic, grind-driven quest design. Running around killing a set number of 'Flesh Raiders' in a relatively quiet village doesn't seem particularly epic, but that's the route BioWare Austin seems to be taking with the opening areas for the Jedi — what will surely be the most popular classes when The Old Republic is released. ... the real concern, though, is not so much in the quest design as in BioWare Austin's apparent willingness to play follow the leader. Whenever something becomes a big hit — be it a movie, game or book — there's always a mad scramble to replicate the formula; in World of Warcraft's case, that mad scramble has been going for six years now. "
The Courts

Man Sues Rockstar Saying GTA:SA Is Based On His Life 124

Posted by samzenpus from the a-life-full-of-missions dept.
dotarray writes "From the article: 'Rockstar Games are no strangers to legal action, but it doesn't come stranger than this. An American model, Michael Washington (known as "Shagg") is suing the publisher — as well as parent company Take Two Interactive — because they based Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on his life.'" It's a good thing Washington never learned the infinite ammo cheat.
Cellphones

John Carmack Not Enthused About Android Marketplace 163

Posted by Soulskill from the hit-with-a-fragmentation-grenade dept.
An anonymous reader writes "During an in-depth and informative interview, Doom creator and id Software co-founder John Carmack opines on iOS game development, the economics of mobile development vs. console development, why mobile games lend themselves to more risk-taking and greater creativity, and finally, why he's not too keen on the Android Marketplace as a money-making machine. '...I'm honestly still a little scared of the support burden and the effort that it's going to take for our products, which are very graphics-intensive.'"

Submission + - Cybercriminals Turn Attention to Smartphones (usatoday.com)

Submitted by PreacherTom
PreacherTom writes: Hackers have begun adapting tried-and-true computer infections to work on Internet-enabled smartphones that are all the rage with consumers. The cyber-underground took notice. Download the wrong wallpaper app for your Google Android phone and you could get one that will harvest the phone and voicemail numbers, and data that can be used to disclose your location. Mobile security firm Lookout discovered 80 such Android Web apps last week, which have since been taken down by Google, says John Hering, Lookout's CEO. "Smartphone usage is going mainstream," Hering says. "And so the bad guys are looking at web browsing and the downloading of Web apps as two primary attack vectors."
Software

Submission + - Nokia Bets On Symbian 3 (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by RedEaredSlider
RedEaredSlider writes: With its profit sinking 40 percent year-over-year, Nokia will rely on its upcoming N8 smartphone and other devices from its new Symbian 3 operating system to get out of a slump and make waves in the growing high-end smartphone industry.

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